The present invention relates to accessing and/or sharing a digital document available in a communication network linking client devices together, said method utilizing a notification indicating the presence of a digital document available on the network, the notification being suitable for adaptation and for exploiting the presence or not of a local application able to process the digital document.
It has general application in the processing of digital documents available in a communication network, in particular communication networks of peer-to-peer type, designated hereinafter by the acronym P2P.
P2P communication systems have emerged in recent years constituting a revolution in file sharing in comparison with the conventional client-server model. In P2P systems, each machine (also termed node or peer) constituting the communication network acts as a client device as well as a server device. Thus, in a P2P network, the apparatuses put resources in common according to a philosophy of sharing as coequals, each machine of a P2P network acting both as client and as server. Such networks are thus distinguished from conventional client-server networks in which the resources are archived in a central server device.
Currently, the distribution of data relies increasingly on P2P networks due to their low-cost installation, the presence of very numerous computers connected to the networks, and due to the development of broadband connections.
However, P2P networks are unstable. This is because client devices (and consequently server devices) connect and disconnect periodically to the network, thus rendering the presence of data highly unpredictable. Furthermore, the addresses of client and/or server devices are unpredictable and liable to be different at each connection.
Due to their specificity, P2P systems generally imply the utilization of a local, dedicated client application, also termed a P2P local application. Such a P2P local application ensures the sharing of digital content, as well as searching and accessing the digital content available on P2P networks.
For example, the P2P local application may provide a notification mechanism based on the exchange of messages according to a proprietary protocol in order to enable a client device to notify one or more persons that it has just shared new digital contents on the network.
The P2P local application may also utilize electronic mail as a main mechanism for notification or as a supplement to the proprietary notification system. In this case, the electronic mail may possibly contain one or more specific files as attachments which may be interpreted by the P2P local application at the recipient or recipients.
P2P systems are also known which enable users not having any P2P local application to access the content on the network with the aid of Internet access tools that are more conventional and widespread such as browsers or Internet navigators.
In such systems, certain specific server devices or client devices in the network act as server devices playing the role of gateway between the Internet access tool (browser, explorer, navigator) and the P2P network. These machines may be viewed as proxy devices which take on the task of retrieving the resource sought on the P2P network for the Internet tool. In these systems, email is utilized conventionally as a notification mechanism. The email may then contain a page in markup language or a link (also termed a URL from “Uniform Ressource Locator”) to a page enabling the recipient user to access the resources.
Thus, in a P2P system, a user may utilize a P2P local application to share digital content over the network, and to browse and access the content available on the P2P network.
The user not having the P2P local application or the user not wishing to utilize the interface provided may also utilize tools capable of viewing pages in markup language to access the digital content (Web explorer, email reader, or any other application capable of displaying pages in markup language).
For example, the user may share collections of digital content with a group of persons, it being possible for those persons to have the P2P local application or not.
The Applicant set itself the problem of providing a method enabling recipient client devices to be notified in a uniform manner without having to know a priori whether said recipients posses a P2P local application dedicated to the processing of digital documents.